Expert: Long Island Gardener - 12/29/2007

Question
QUESTION: I live in the Phoenix area, zone 9. We moved into a new house this summer and had all our landscaping done.  We have 4 cana lilies.  How should I take care of them in winter?  The temp. at night is dropping down to 33 degrees.

ANSWER: Cannas are quite hardy.  Some experts don't usually recommend you lift them unless Winters hit 10 degrees below zero.  Something tells me it's NEVER been that cold in Phoenix.  But other Cannas are more tender and can't endure the al fresco treatment unless you're in Zones 8 or warmer.  You qualify.

In Zone 9, you lucky duck, you can expect these Cannas to bloom off and on through the Winter.  Assuming they spend their days under that bright Arizona Sun.  But they also need moisture when in active growth, and the Soil has got to be serious Garden Soil for them to do well.  You can't just take a container of fertilizer and 'feed' them once a week.  They have to grow in rich, healthy loam, and watered when dry.  Be sure to remove spent flowers when the Blooms are done.

All told, these are easy, basic landscape plants.  You may not be familiar with them now, but next year, you'll feel like you've grown them your whole life.  They come in a LOT of colors, so if you want to add more, you have plenty to choose from.

Thanks for writing and your followup(s) is/are invited.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: When the cannas were planted my landscaper just dug a hole and put them in. So, they are definitely not in garden soil.  What should I do?

Answer
Sorry, dear, but if your landscaper dug a hole, they're probably not growing in rocks, are they?

If so, let me know.  They'll need a better place to live than that.

Landscapers don't always know what they're doing when it comes to landscaping.  They know the basic traditional Lawn setups, and the house foundation planting -- the $10 hole for the 10 cent roots, etc.  But they aren't horticultural whiz kids.  Most don't even know what Cannas are.  And if they do, they don't know how to say it in English.

Not that I object.  It's just that you can't expect them really to know anything more than you do.  I'm not kidding here.  Give a guy a hammer or a hoe, and he thinks he knows everything about the house, including the Grass and Plants that grow there.  They don't even KNOW they don't know.

At this point, my friend, YOU know more than your landscaper about this plant.  If you lived down the street, I would come over and tell you that to your face.  But I don't, so you'll just have to take my printed word for it.

This is NOT difficult.  Don't worry about it.  But look down there and tell me if there is dirt.  You know what dirt looks like.  There are ONLY 2 Multiple Choices here.  (a) Dirt, (b) Rock.  rsvp